Posts tagged "Wage & Hour Laws"

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Friday, December 7, 2018.

A natural tendency that you may engage in when connecting with others in your same line of work in Fort Lauderdale may be to compare your salaries. Large discrepancies in pay between competing companies within the same industry might prompt you to question who sets the market for your services? Many assume that wages are regulated. This may come from some assuming that Florida has a prevailing wage law.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Thursday, October 25, 2018.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed to change part of how employees are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Exempt basically means exempt from the overtime premium rate required by the FLSA, and employees are generally exempt only if they meet a specific exemption defined in the law. Executives, learned professionals, certain administrators, creative professionals and computer workers, and inside salespeople are typically exempt.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Monday, October 15, 2018.

When it comes to the "gig economy," one of the more controversial issues is how Uber, Lyft, Amazon and other companies save money by classifying their workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Contract workers aren't eligible for many standard workplace benefits and protections, such as employer-paid payroll taxes, access to workers' compensation and unemployment insurance, and the right to be paid the overtime premium rate. They're not even guaranteed the minimum wage.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Thursday, September 20, 2018.

Using contract labor to perform core business functions is still controversial, even as companies like Uber, Grubhub and Amazon take advantage of this "gig economy" business model. Traditionally, employers have been required to provide at least some benefits, such as workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and payroll tax payments. Contractors receive none of these and are not protected by some labor laws.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Monday, August 13, 2018.

With the rise of the "gig economy," new companies have sometimes opted to classify their workers as independent contractors vs. employees. This immediately cuts their overhead, as contractors are not eligible for overtime or many job-based benefits like workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. They are responsible for paying 100 percent of their payroll taxes, while employees receive half paid by their employer. Hiring independent contractors can save a lot of money for the company by shifting the cost of even basic benefits to the worker.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Thursday, July 19, 2018.

At the start of this year, Florida’s minimum wage rose to $8.25 per hour—a full $1 above the federal minimum wage. While this may be good news for many people in the workforce, there are some exceptions to the rule. As a young person, you may get the short end of the stick when it comes to compensation.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

A man who worked as one of Donald Trump's personal chauffeurs for more than 20 years has filed suit against the Trump Organization and associated companies claiming that he was never paid for overtime hours as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and applicable state law. He also says the organization stiffed him on unused sick and vacation pay.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in one of the longest debated cases of the session. In a 5:4 decision, the Court ruled that an employer may prevent its employees from joining in a class action lawsuit against the employer. Under the terms of many employment contracts, this decision prevents a vulnerable employee from pursuing litigation altogether--forcing them instead to resolve disputes through arbitration.

On behalf of The Law Office of Michelle Cohen Levy, P.A. posted in Wage & Hour Laws on Thursday, May 24, 2018.

In what many employee advocates see as a blow to workers and the employment laws that protect them, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that employers may require mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts. The 5-4 ruling makes it more likely that companies will require these clauses, which typically prohibit employees from banding together to bring class action lawsuits.

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